Minus Ten and Counting!

[Proginoskes]

Some time ago, somebody suggested Julia Ecklar's song The Phoenix. That song happens to be on an old tape of space-filk titled "Minus Ten and Counting: Songs of the Space Age" that used to be immensely popular and somebody thoughtfully uploaded to YouTube. Here are some of the other tracks:

Minus Ten and Counting, music by Leslie Fish and lyrics by Mercedes Lackey(!), performed by Leslie Fish and Arlin Robins.

It's minus ten and counting, and soon she will be gone,
That shining stub-winged angel that we've pinned our hopes upon.
And even as she waits she seems to strain to touch the sky.
It's minus ten and counting, and we wait for her to fly.

CHORUS:
It's minus ten and counting, and time is passing fast.
It's minus ten and counting; will our next choice be our last?

It's minus ten and counting for the plan that gave her birth;
The plan that will determine if we ever leave the earth.
Will we choose to throw the plan away, forget our need to know?
It's minus ten and counting; will we stay, or will we go?

CHORUS

It's minus ten and counting for the world on which we live.
We're swiftly using all this lovely planet has to give.
The pressure builds, and soon the chance to escape will pass us by;
It's minus ten and counting: will we grow, or will we die?

CHORUS

The only power I can think of for this would be kind of difficult to work into a story or game: it increases awareness and importance of environmental issues and space exploration in the minds of everyone in Doug's AoE, with the effect gradually fading over weeks or months instead of cutting off abruptly with the end of the song.

Surprise! written by Leslie Fish, performed by Leslie Fish, Roy Torley, and Julia Ecklar.

Remember the Fifties – those fat complacent days
When the future seemed a century away.
Then up went Sputnik, gave the world a butt-kick,
And made it clear Tomorrow starts Today.

CHORUS:
Beep-beep, boop-boop, hello dere! (Hey jupa!†)
Sputnik sails giggling through the skies. (Hey! Hey! Hey!)
Red flags, red faces, jump in the race, as
The Space Age begins with a surprise! (Surprise!)

You generals once thought Von Braun a waste of cash,
And Goddard needed treatment really bad.
Then that global shot-put gave you the hot-foot,
And, beep-beep, you're blasted off the pad.

CHORUS

Done for a threat, propaganda, or prestige –
The point is, the thing was in the sky.
It made generals frown, and put money down,
And meet that bet or know the reason why.

CHORUS
That's how it started, all those years ago;
The push that got us climbing into space.
Cynic beginnings, greed for big winnings --
But look at all we've gotten from that race!
CHORUS

Old Sputnik wore out and spiraled back to Earth.
On re-entry it burned up very soon.
Hail and goodbye to that upstart of the sky…
And in twelve more years, a man walked on the moon.

CHORUS
Surprise…
And the Space Age begins with a surprise!

This definitely feels like it should do something, but I haven't the faintest idea what.
†: I have no idea if this is really "Hey jupa!" or what that might mean, but it wasn't on the lyric sheet and didn't really sound like anything else.

Fire in the Sky, written by Jordin Kare, performed by Doug Olsen and Julia Ecklar.

Prometheus, they say, brought God's fire down to man,
And we've caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began.
Now we're going back to heaven just to look Him in the eye;
And there's a thunder 'cross the land, and a fire in the sky!

Gagarin was the first, back in Nineteen Sixty-One,
When like Icarus, undaunted, he climbed to reach the sun.
And he knew he might not make it, 'cause it's never hard to die;
But he lifted off the pad and rode a fire in the sky!

Yet a higher goal was calling, and we vowed to reach it soon,
And we gave ourselves a decade to put fire on the moon.
And Apollo told the world "we can do it if we try",
For there was one small step, and a fire in the sky!

Now two decades since Gagarin, twenty years to the day,
We've a shuttle named Columbia to open up the way!
Though they say she's just a truck, she's a truck that's aiming high!
See those big jets burning, see her fire in the sky!

Now the rest is up to us. There's a future to be won.
We must turn our faces outward; we will do what must be done.
For no cradle lasts forever; every bird must learn to fly,
And we're going to the stars! See our fire in the sky!

Yes, we're going to the stars! See our fire in the sky!

This would either be similar to Minus Ten and Counting above but restricted to the "space exploration" part, or allow Doug to literally put fire in the sky: either to hang there as a flare or light source, or to rain upon enemy combatants.

The complete track list can be found here, and all of the songs (and a bunch of other stuff) have been put on YouTube by this dude.

[Logan Darklighter]

For your consideration and further entertainment, here are the lyrics to "Countdown" by RUSH. (I'm also posting a couple of videos over on the random videos thread in the general forum.)

Lit up with anticipation
We arrive at the launching site
The sky is still dark, nearing dawn
On the Florida coastline

Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams

Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon

Crackling speakers, voices tense
Resume the final count
All systems check, T minus nine
As the sun and the drama start to mount

The air is charged
A humid, motionless mass
The crowds and the cameras,
The cars full of spectators pass
Excitement so thick you could cut it with a knife
Technology...high, on the leading edge of life

The earth beneath us starts to tremble
With the spreading of a low black cloud
A thunderous roar shakes the air
Like the whole world exploding

Scorching blast of golden fire
As it slowly leaves the ground
Tears away with a mighty force
The air is shattered by the awesome sound

Like a pillar of cloud
The smoke lingers high in the air
In fascination
With the eyes of the world
We stare...

[Bob Schroeck]

"MInus Ten" -- Mm. I think you're right, there's not much there that lends itself to a more "cinematic" effect.

I have MP3s of both "Surprise" (as done by Gunnar Madsen for the Virtual Filksing) and "Fire In the Sky" (recorded by Kristoph Klover, also for the Virtual Filksing, with a bridge and an additional verse about Challenger that aren't present in the version you linked to). (And much as I love Leslie and her performances, I like Gunnar's version much better.) I too have no idea (yet) what to do with "Surprise", but I always saw "Fire in the Sky"as a flight song, possibly even a heavy-lift flight song. "Countdown" might be much the same.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Proginoskes]

Yeah, on second consideration "Fire in the Sky" is definitely a heavy-lift Earth-to-Orbit song: "Though they say she's just a truck, she's a truck that's aiming high!" (not restricted to taking things from Earth to orbit, but capable of doing so).

Bob obviously has knowledge of these songs, but for the elucidation of others, I realized I missed the penultimate verse of "Surprise!", so I'll edit the top post to add it.

[Black Aeronaut]

OH OH OH! Does Doug have a distraction capable of fooling high-altitude radars? If not, then that's what Surprise! can do.

[Bob Schroeck]

He'll have to have another way to fly at high altitude then...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Proginoskes]

Or, if I understand BA correctly, it might not be Yet Another Flight Song, but rather something to totally confuse high-altitude radars such that any flying allies can move about unnoticed.EDIT: Never mind. I mis-read what Bob wrote. ("He'll have another way to fly at high altitude then...". It's amazing how two missing words can change a sentence's meaning.)

[Black Aeronaut]

Who said it was so that Doug can sneak in under the radar? He's a team player, right? So now and then he's gotta futz with the enemies EW capabilities so someone or something else can get in.

[Proginoskes]

Well, how useful that would be depends on the radius of Doug's AoE, since either the radar stations to be spoofed or the beneficiary of the effect would have to be within that area. If Doug were at a radar station, there would be simpler and possibly subtler methods of disabling it (whatever "Surprise!" winds up doing, it should be double-plus unsubtle). If he were covering his allies directly, he'd probably have to be flying with them.

[Bob Schroeck]

Nobody said using it properly had to be easy...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Star Ranger4]

Exactly. or, rather... If it was easy, they wouldnt need DOUG to do it
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Proginoskes]

More from the tape!
Sentries, written by Leslie Fish, performed by Julia Ecklar and Joey Shoji

Legends have warned us in times gone by:
Dangers can fall on us from the sky.
Fire and rain, and hail, stone, and flame,
And gods without mercy, and plagues without name.

Science has warned us of what might be:
Dangers that drift through infinity.
Comets may call, or meteors fall,
And nobody knows what lives out there at all.

Humans are hotheads who break the rules;
Humans are reckless, but not quite fools.
Therefore we fly, keeping an eye
Turned to the depths of the borderless sky.

Some of us people, the rest machines —
Sensors, computers, and read-out screens —
Always aware, with infinite care,
That we're the first warning of anything there.

We are the sentries who guard your sleep;
Endless as hours in the watch we keep;
Holding the sky under an eye;
As watchful as ever in ages gone by.

Nothing is certain but death and change,
Earth-borne or sky-borne as we may range.
Always we fly, watching the sky,
And nobody human need ever ask why!

Power: grants Doug total awareness of everything in his AoE. I'd play this as (borrowing In Nomine terminology, because I've been reading a lot of IN material lately) automatically succeeding with CD:6 on all Perception and Area Knowledge (area of effect) rolls.

Everyman, by Mary Jane Holmes, performed by Julia Ecklar

I've never left this Earth; I've never seen the stars;
I've never had the chance to journey to the Moon or Mars;
My name will never be recalled in books of history,
But by God, I know that those who did could not have without me!
For…
CHORUS:
… I'm the man who took up tools, and laid out the designs
Of starships: I'm the one who built their sleek and burnished lines.
I'm Every Man who ever fashioned cold refined steel
Into the dreams of spaceflight: I'm the one who made them real.

I'll never feel the thrilling pain of blasting into space;
I'll never know what mysteries lie in some unearthly place;
I'll never see new stars be born, or watch the old ones die;
I'll never hear a child from an alien planet cry.
But…
CHORUS

I wonder what it feels like to dance without the tie
Of gravity upon me, though I'll never get to try.
But I have satisfaction knowing that I had a role
In giving those who could a chance to reach that final goal.
For…
CHORUS
I'm the one who made them real.

Power: Allows Doug to detect the loftiest goals of a target person, and Doug automatically knows how best to aid that person in achieving it.

Fly, Columbia by Diana Gallagher, performed by Leslie Fish, Gallagher, and Arlin Robins. Ms. Gallagher apparently doesn't like her lyrics being posted around willy-nilly (also the video doesn't have a songsheet), but I think just the chorus and second verse will be fine:

CHORUS:
Fly, Columbia! (Fly, Columbia!)
Thunder toward tomorrow on an oxygen stream!
Thunder toward tomorrow, flyer flame and rocket song!
Mark a new time of Man; booster candles light the dawn!
Fly, Columbia! (Fly, Columbia!)
Foundation of the future, courier of dreams,Thunder on!

Columbia, the promise of better days to come!
Columbia, new mistress of the sky!
Sail in orbit free, track the moon and chase the sun!
Fly, Columbia, for humankind, fly!

Power: Yet Another Flight Song, but with the interesting side effect of making him an inspiring and uplifting sight to behold.
(Man, Fish and Ecklar are everywhere on this tape.)

EDIT: Straightening out the mangled lyrics above, and adding the following:

Voyager, by Cynthia McQuillin, performed by McQuillin, Joey Shoji, and Catherine Cook.

I was born of a dream on a drafting board;
Oh, the years it took to fill NASA's Plan.
With tons of thrust you sent me forth,
Across the space that time must span.
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

I journeyed far in the years gone by,
As I whispered my silent memories home.
Forgotten, I passed beyond your sight,
Then, at last, my mission's target loomed.
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

When Jupiter turned up its face,
That must have made you all amazed,
Stirred again your dreams of space.
For a while, I could feel your piercing gaze.
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

A faithful servitor of mankind,
I've searched the emptiness alone.
Must I wait throughout all time?
Will no one call the Voyager home?
I speak knowledge. Does no one listen?

I speak Knowledge! Does no one listen?

Power: This is a bit of a stretch, based more on my emotional reaction to the repeated line than anything else, but I think this lets Doug instantly tell what it would take to convince someone of something. (This is a broadening of my first thought, which was that he could instantly tell whether reasoned, evidence-based arguments would be useful.)

The Light-Ship, by Leslie Fish, performed by Julia Ecklar, Catherine Cook, and Joey Shoji.

The full Earth stands at our left hands,
And the pale Moon on the right.
All fire and steel, our Catherine-wheel
Rolls through the endless night.
The sun may burn at full astern,
And the power-cells drink deep;
Both day and night stand in our sight,
From waking unto sleep.

CHORUS:
And we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
Yes we spin long light from the glory of the sun.
And the light-gems glow on the Earth below,
In the bright web spun from the glory of the sun.

The powers run from the brazen sun,
Through the web of heaven's height,
To the opal world, like a clouded pearl,
Strung on a thread of light.
And we pace our turn from bow to stern
Through the elfin-summer field,
Where the power-cells, like flower-bells,
Drink all the sun can yield.

CHORUS

The well-paced blips of the factory-ships
Slide past our orbit's brink;
Like a swarm of bees in the girder-trees,
Come to our flowers to drink.
And the Earth is clean as a springtime dream;
No factory-smokes appear –
For they've left the land to the gardener's hand,
And they all are circling here!

CHORUS

Power: This could go in a couple different directions. The song is obviously (at a surface level, at least) about solar power generation, so it could have a subtle "awareness of/pressure for renewable energy" effect, or let Doug and the ground around him act as a photovoltaic array. But calling stored energy "long light", and referring to spinning it, makes me think Doug will be able to spin tangible threads from light. He'd be able to telekinetically manipulate them to trip or grapple (or whatever) at a distance. The strength of the threads depends on the apparent strength of the light-source he spun them from, so this song works best outdoors, on a clear day, in full sun.